


i will burn for the both of us

by alrespirar



Category: Da Vinci's Demons
Genre: Anal Sex, Canon Compliant, Denial of Feelings, M/M, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-31
Updated: 2015-10-31
Packaged: 2018-04-29 05:31:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5117339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alrespirar/pseuds/alrespirar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zoro doesn’t follow Leo in the Vatican, he can’t. And when he watches Leo walk with Riario inside and the doors close behind them, Zoro knows that he has lost a part of Leo.</p>
<p>(Spoilers for up to Episode 7 of Season 3.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	i will burn for the both of us

**Author's Note:**

> So S3, I’m sure as we can all agree, was a complete whirlwind of emotions especially for Zoro/Leo. I love?? them?? I just had to do something about it. So this is my deplorable attempt. I took lots of liberty with the dialogue and pacing but I tried to be as canon-compliant as possible. 
> 
> A huge thank you to [asphodelus](http://archiveofourown.org/users/asphodelus) for being my beta and putting up with my dismay even though she doesn't watch DVD.
> 
> Happy Halloween, everyone!

In the face of defeat, triumphant, and despair, Zoro has always been there for Leo. Watching his back, following him to every end and corner of the world, indulging in his ideas. Otranto is where things change. It’s the first time Zoro allows himself to break free and become overwhelmed by the fear of death, surrounded by fire and cries of the wounded and dying.

He’s completely numb when he’s hacking away at a Turk who had tried to attack him from behind. The next thing he feels and sees is Leo, tearing him away and forcing him to drop the weapon in his hand.

“It's over.” Leo repeats this over and over again as he holds Zoro, hands on either side of his face, pulling him back to reality. But reality is still hell.

Zoro chokes, he meets Leo's eyes but he can't see him. “This is... this is hell.”

It’s the first time that he sees Leo sober up, swallowing up his own grief about his mother’s death to become the strong one for them both. “Otranto's fallen. We have to get off the streets.”

They reunite with Leo’s father and wait out the night inside the shop.

_It’s over._

Zoro repeats those words to himself over and over again. His hands are dirty with blood and grime, but so are everyone else’s. He hopes that this nightmare will be over. But only fools hope. And the nightmares don’t stop.

+

_Don’t you have faith in me, Zo?_

_Of course I do. But there’s a limit._

....

_You should go._

....

Maybe it was dangerous to stay behind with Leo and follow him, but Zoro was always weak-headed when it came to Leo. Even when Leo was being a stupid pompous idiot like the time he got into bed with Pope Sixtus. They should have gone back home after the hell they went through. Zoro would never admit it to Leo, but his nightmares haven’t stopped. He wakes up cold and sweating, and his eyes burn as if the images are searing into his memory.

Leo probably has his own nightmares—has been fighting them for as long as he can remember. He doesn't need to know that Zoro has them now too. There is only so much Zoro can do before he reaches his breaking point. He’s killed men before, but never on the battleground of actual war, surrounded by the flames and the smell of dead flesh.

What keeps Zoro grounded, brings him back to reality, is Leo’s voice and his hands caressing his face. His hands are warm, like a brand, and Zoro doesn’t want him to let go.

When they finally manage to escape—after Leo had returned, eyes blank at having seen his father murdered before his eyes—the travel to Rome is not an easy one.

Zoro doesn’t follow Leo in the Vatican, he can’t. And when he watches Leo walk with Riario inside and the doors close behind them, Zoro knows that he has lost a part of Leo.

He finds the closest tavern and tells the keeper to keep them coming. Zoro doesn’t want to stay in Rome any longer but a part of him thinks that maybe, just maybe, Leo realize what a stupid fucking idea this all is and will come back. But he does not and the only answer Zoro can find is at the bottom of his wine bottle.

“Followed him across the ocean to the New World, nearly died helping. Think he says thank you? Fuck.”

Zoro doesn’t mean any of it.

He doesn’t.

He does.

He noticed the group of men sitting by the window when he walked in. Even when he wants to swallow in some sorrows, he knows better than to let his guard down.

The thing about his relationship with Leo was that he was a stupid ingenious prick, but he was Zoro’s stupid ingenious prick. So when some nobody starts calling him names, Zoro gets protective. It's pathetic and it's not the first time it's ever happened.

“Who dares slander the greatest mind that ever lived?”

It sounded better in his head but he’s drunk so he’s not as embarrassed at how fucking cliché and romantic it sounds. Getting into bar fights with nobodies who badmouth Leonardo. That’s how Zoro spends his last days in Rome. He packs a punch, but he’s outnumbered and when Zoro sees stars from a fall that bumped the back of his head, he didn’t expect to see Lucrezia of all people looking down at him.

He’s gotten in so many fights because of Leo, that one more under the belt is just ridiculous. Zoro wants to laugh and rub the edge of his palms against his eyes to keep the tears from spilling because he’s definitely drunk and he would rather pass out then let Lucrezia see him in this pathetic state of moping.

“Didn’t occur to you to lend a hand to an old friend?” he asks, groaning when he remembers that he literally just got a kick to his groin. His day was already ruined, anyway.

His vision is blurry and he takes Lucrezia’s hand to get back up on his feet and the alcohol crashes all over him. He notices then that Lucrezia herself doesn’t look any better than him and the irony of that makes him laugh.

“Leo...” she begins.

“He’s alive. And a righteous ass. He left me at the gates of the Vatican.”

Her eyes widen and Zoro doesn't blame her.

“I think he’s messed up in the head.” The headache is starting to set in along with the bruising on his temple and his busted lip. He hasn’t ever felt better than he does. “Me too,” he adds because he’s an idiot and he let his best friend go. It's like a bad break up but they always have those. They sometimes go weeks without seeing each other but this is different, this is far worse.

There’s a saying that people tell one another that they would follow them to the ends of the world because that's what love is, but what’s next when Zo has literally done that? He’s never asked for anything in return, truly, aside from the occasional raise and help with his not-so secret black market dealings. Zoro has remained in Leo’s shadow, preferring it there than not being anywhere near him at all.

Because that’s what friends do for one another, right?

God, Zoro’s headache is going to kill him.

_I’m going to die in a fucking stupid tavern in Rome because of Leonardo da Vinci._

And the fucked up thing is that they will cross paths again because this isn’t the end and things will resume like nothing happened. That’s how it always is with Leo. But Zoro is tired and he’s tired of lying to himself that he’s okay every single time this happens.

+

When Zoro picks Leo’s lithe body from the ground with Riario’s help, his mind is suddenly lighter. Zoro would never admit it, but every single time he finds Leo and picks up the pieces left of himself, it drains some years away from his own life.

_Leo is here, he is safe. He’s safe with me. It's over now._

He had been blind—too proud to even consider that Leo could be killed and left for dead, but he is also human.

Zoro takes a hold of Leo’s hand and brings it to his face. His fingers are cold, but his pulse is there; faint, but there.

How many times has Zoro been in this position before, holding onto Leo’s hands, having escaped death’s grip yet again? If Riario notices that Zoro holds onto Leo’s hand for a second longer, he doesn’t mention it. Zoro wants to hate him because Leo being with Riario means that nothing good will come out of it, but he's too tired to care.

His heart had stopped when he had seen Leo on the ground, fearing the worst. Riario tells him that he’s alive, just unconscious. Like that's supposed to make things better.

Lucrezia doesn’t come with them and the first couple of hours of the trip back to Florence is done in silence. Every now and then he turns around to make sure that Leo is still with him. He doesn’t let his guard down.

He stops off by the road when the sun has long since gone down. He makes a small campfire to keep himself and Leo warm.

The following morning, Zoro wakes up to the feeling of warm breath against him. Forcing his heavy eyes to open, Zoro looks down to find Leo’s head against his shoulder, one strong arm strewn across his stomach.

It was expected—a result of them sharing the little space available on the shitty excuse of a carriage paired with Leo's stubbornness of not letting Zoro sleep on the floor alone. And yet, Zoro was warm all throughout and somehow Leo's presence near him had kept him calm and kept the nightmares at bay.

He tries not to think too much into it. Trying to find something amongst the lines of what is really just a hopeful and possibly delusional glint of his imagination.

_He must have moved in the middle of the night,_ Zoro thinks with a smile. Zoro watches him sleep, tries not to think about how awkward that is. Rarely does he get a chance to see Leo like this. Leo’s face is so relaxed, his lips parted slightly without a furrow in his brow.

_He looks so much younger when he sleeps._

Zoro wants to kiss those lips, wants to feel them against his own. Instead, he slowly lifts his head and sees that it’s just after dawn; the skies are a beautiful mixture of pink, blue and yellows. The little hours of sleep he’s gotten should get him through the rest of the trip they still have left before they get to Florence.

Not long after, Leo opens one eye just wide enough to see. He grumbles a bit before opening his eyes wider and surveying his surrounding space. When he notices his position and how close he is to Zoro (who’s gone back to staring back at him), he sits up quickly, and Zoro swears he sees a dusting of pink across Leo’s cheekbones.

“If you wanted to cuddle with me, you could have just said so,” Zoro opts for the low key teasing route.

“Sorry about that,” Leo says, he blinks before looking back down at Zoro as if he’s just remembered something. “You didn’t wake up.”

Confused, Zoro waits for Leo to continue.

“The nightmares, I mean. I know they wake you up.”

Zoro looks away, too stubborn to talk about it because this is his problem and Leo doesn’t need to concern himself with petty things like fear.

“I’m sorry,” Leo confides. “I’m sorry I dragged you there with me. You should have stayed behind.”

Zoro looks at him so quickly, as if he’s been burned, and can’t believe what Leo has just said. Leo doesn’t notice though because he chooses that moment to get off the carriage.

“As if I would leave you,” Zoro mutters to himself. Except, that's what he did.

Zoro left him at the Vatican. He’s too tired to argue about it, so he bottles it up instead. He represses all the shit that Leo has put him through because they still have the morning to get through together, and Zoro would rather spend it in silence.

+

Coming back to Florence should have been grand, it should have been like coming back home after war (literally). But all Zoro felt was exhaustion and a pang of loneliness, like he was missing something. Seeing Vanessa and Nico had reminded Zoro of the good things in life and it made him genuinely happy to see his best friends alive and well.

Regardless, Zoro knew that Leo's absence from the group meant more than just wanting to spend time alone. He truly thinks it's a horrible idea for Leo to sleep and work at the workshop—it does nothing but serve as an looming reminder of his failure to save Andrea that he can’t shake off or forget. Leo doesn't mention it, but he doesn't have to because Zoro can see it plastered over his face when he shows up the following night.

_“Is that your lover? Has he come for his morning knob slob?”_

Zoro sees red for a moment because he knows that voice; he recognizes it almost instantly and if the defeated look in Leo’s eyes give anything away, Zoro knows that on the other side of this door, stands Girolamo Riario.

And Zoro fucking hates it.

_“Tell your mongrel bitch of my artistry.”_

Zoro’s been called a lot of things and by this point in his life, he doesn’t give a shit anymore. He stopped caring a long time ago. The irony is that the one time he _does_ give a shit, is when Riario calls him a mongrel. Leo’s mongrel, no less. He’s never liked the man for good reason, but he does, in a way, understand why Leo is still trying to save him.

That doesn’t mean he has to enjoy it though. Eventually Riario goes back to being the Monster of Italy because of course he is, and mayhem ensues, but Zoro’s had worse days. He’d rather not give Riario the satisfaction.

They have bigger things to worry about than just one man gone mad.

+

The breaking point for Zoro finally happens when Leo hands him what's left of the money. Leo hands it to Zoro like some baggage that he needs to get off his chest and Zoro is seething because out of everything that’s happened, Leo still doesn’t get it.

“Take what's left. And just get somewhere safe.” Leo says dejectedly, but not before briefly laying his hand on Zoro’s cheek, thumb caressing his earlobe. It’s quick and faint but Zoro knows what he felt.

Leo cares and he doesn't mean what he just said.

This is Leo’s way of getting him out. Zoro is speechless, feeling numb over the fact that Leo would even suggest such a thing. Enough is enough.

“The fuck is this?” Zoro grits out.

“Zo, there’s nothing more for you to do here,” Leo says helplessly as he gestures to the workshop. There was literally nothing left here anymore and yet Leo could not leave it because it was his home. “Leave, get as far away from here as possible.”

There’s a thick silence growing around them and Zoro is beside himself with rage, pain, and everything that’s been buried deep down. It wants out and Zoro is tired of fighting.

“No. That means losing everyone I love, I’m not going anywhere.” Zoro says, throwing the leather pouch on the table, it falls hard and with a clunk from the weight of the gold. “Are you even listening to yourself? I can’t fucking believe you’re telling me this. I am not running away.”

Leo stalks off, shaking his head and sighing as if this is all Zoro’s fault. No, no fucking way was Leo going to make him feel guilty. Zoro knew his self-destructive tendencies all too well.

“You think gold is enough to make me leave Florence, to get up and leave you?” Zoro asks suddenly. He needs to hear it from Leo but nothing was ever direct with them.

“Yes,” Leo simply says. Silence falls in the workshop, the breeze from the busted roof rustling papers all around.

“You’re so full of shit, Leo. I know you don’t mean that. What are you so afraid of?!”

“I have enough blood on my hands! I have seen enough death and.. I don’t--,” Leo stops, he’s gripping the table now, his knuckles white.

“What are you so afraid of?” He’s never backed Leo into a corner like this but today seems to be a day for firsts. “I’m not leaving you. I never would.”

“That’s the thing! We could die, Zo. I have lost so much already, losing you, I.. I wouldn’t be able to bear the thought of losing you because I love you." Leo looks away.

There it is. When it came down to everything, Zoro had always been there, burning bright, never leaving Leo’s orbit and Leo never wanted him to go away.

"I’ve been so shitty, so caught up in,” Leo gestures to the mess of sketches he’s crumbled up. “All of this, denying what I felt. You were always free to leave... you never had any obligation to me." Leo admits.

"Because it's my choice.” Zoro simply says before walking around the table and standing in front of Leo. He wants to reach out, he almost does, but stops his hands and makes a fist instead. He can’t believe what he just heard. But it’s out now and there's nothing he can do about it and Zoro doesn’t back down.

"You always asked what I wanted. It wasn't what you wanted. That's all I ever cared about."

"God," Leo sighs, running his hands over his face. He leans on the table now. "I’ve been such a shithead."

“Yeah, you have but that’s nothing new,” Zoro said, smiling when Leo gives him a look. “Look, I bitch and moan about the shit you put me through, about what I’ve done for you, but there’s literally nowhere else I’d rather be. Someone’s got to make sure you don’t blow yourself up too many years too early.”

“Is this your way of confessing your feelings?” Leo asks. He reaches for Zoro’s hand and Zoro lets him. He feels Leo rubs soft circles with his thumb on Zoro’s skin. It's soft, comforting, and distracting. “All this time and you never said anything?”

“You fucking knew, I didn’t have to tell you. You were just too stubborn to accept it." He takes a leap of faith, it’s now or never. “I would never leave anywhere without you by my side because that’s what people who love each other do. I’ve been in love with you since back when we were young and stupid and the world was a cruel place.”

Leo laughs, it's small but Zoro knows all his laughs by now. "The world is still a cruel place."

"Yeah, it is, but we're still here. Together. That's gotta count for something, right?" Zoro replies and brings Leo’s hand to his lips and gives him a soft kiss on his knuckles and then on his long slender fingers. These delicate hands that have taken so many lives but gave life and purpose to Zoro.

Zoro doesn’t want to let go.

Leo leans in and rests his forehead against Zoro’s and breathes. Zoro brings up his other hand to Leo’s face, caressing his cheek before moving down and resting on his shoulder, rubbing his thumb over the skin there. All Zoro feels is warmth, like taking in the sun after a brutal winter. Leo is the sun and Zoro wants to always burn in front of him.

“After all that we’ve been through...” Leo whispers. “I don’t deserve you.” Zoro knows that Leo must be extremely self-conscious about how blatantly clear he is with his emotions right now, by how he’s desperately trying to be stoic and distant. Leo doesn’t have to hide.

“No, you don’t, but I want you so tough shit, right?” Zoro laughs. “You don’t have to say anything.”

“I’m so afraid, Zo. So much depends on this—on me to get this right.”

“You don’t have to carry this weight alone, remember? We’re all behind you. Besides, I have a very stupid idea.. but that can wait. Not now when I finally have you here with me.”

“You always had me, Zoro.”

Leo’s lips are chapped, his voice hoarse, but Zoro’s aren’t any better. He kisses Leo with meaning, opening his mouth to take Leo and Leo lets him in.

Leo’s room upstairs has seen better days, hell the whole workshop isn’t even the same anymore. But it works. Even the pathetic little fire they get going at the fireplace will keep them warm enough.

Surprisingly, things with Leo aren’t difficult or new, it just is.

They are filthy, full of sweat, dirt and grime but that’s all Zoro has ever known living his life with Leo. They are the kids from the street, tailored from the worst. Leo breath hitches when Zoro’s hand untangles from his own and puts his hand to his chest to push him down on the bed. It creaks from their weight but they're too busy right now to notice.

“I’m sorry, Zo,” Leo whispers again, against Zoro’s mouth, his hands grasping at whatever he can hold onto. Zoro lets him, leans down, careful of his own weight.

“Shut up,” he says instead.

“I’m stubborn, was in denial, was too afraid, ah,” Leo breath hitches when Zoro’s mouth has moved from Leo’s lips to his neck.

The thing about Leo is that Zoro knows that he is probably thinking to himself that he deserves better, deserves the world compared to someone like him.

But Zoro has already seen the world and so much more because of Leo. Zoro wants nothing else.

Zoro brings up Leo’s left hand to his mouth, kisses his fingers again, he can’t stop doing it and Leo doesn’t protest. He had been so stupid to deny what had been behind, in front and all around him all along. Zoro’s warmth and love. It’s intoxicating, a drug that Leo never knew he was addicted to.

Leo kisses him with everything he’s got, unaware that he had already given himself completely to Zoro. Zoro feels Leo’s hands all over him; they start first at his neck and then they move down to his shoulders where he grips and grinds his own hips against Zoro’s.

They’re still wearing their pants and the mess of belts but there’s no denying that they’re both ready and eager. Leo does it again, this time slowly rocking his hips, revealing in the feel of Zoro’s hardness against his own and Zoro groans, leaning his forehead against Leo’s. “Jesus Christ, we need to get these off you.”

“Yeah, I can say the same about you,” Leo says as he leans back up and throws his shirt over his head. It lands somewhere in the room, followed by his belt. Zoro has discarded his jacket, the only thing is his shirt, wide open at his chest, the tie strings dangling down. Leo pulls on them to bring Zoro down to kiss him again.

Leo’s hands find their way inside his shirt and just feels.

“Feels better than it looks.” He adds casually.

“Fuck off,” Zoro says, trying his best to look unimpressed but that’s kind of difficult when he’s about to take his pants off and not groan too loudly by how tight his pants feel around his dick. Taking the rest of their clothes off is not as graceful. There’s a bit of shuffling around the bed but there’s been worse things. Leo's already hard and leaking precome and Zoro just wants Leo to fuck his mouth but then all of this would be all over way too soon. Instead he watches Leo reach over and grab a small vial of oil which he then hands to Zoro.

“Please,” is all he says.

“Alright,” Zoro is breathless because Leo is asking _him_ , god. “Yeah, alright, slide further back on the bed,” Zoro says as he looks down at the vial in his hand.

Leo somehow ends up on top of him, the hue of the fire shedding warm colors on Leo’s skin. He looks beautiful. And he’s rolling his hips against Zoro’s fingers. Leo stares at like Zoro has amazed him more than anything else up to this point in life. His naked thighs sweat around Zoro.

“More, give me another.”

When Zoro does, easily slipping in a third, Leo falls over gasping hard. “Easy there,” Zoro says apologetically except he’s all but because he pumps his fingers up and curls his fingers _hard_. Leo’s mouth drops open as he claws at Zoro’s chest and rocks his hips, brows knitting together because Zoro has found his prostate.

“God, Zo,” Leo sighs and begins to rock his hips furiously, and Zoro can barely keep up, not when his dick is so hard at the sight of Leo above him, practically fucking himself on his fingers, sweat beading down his chest. His cock is leaking, leaving a mess of precome and sweat on his navel. He knows that if he keeps this up, they're both going to come way too fast. 

Leo clenches hard and moans for Zoro to _fuck_ him already.

“Yeah, yeah, come on, get under me,” Zoro says as he maneuvers them so that Leo is on his stomach. The generous amount of oil on his dick feels amazing when Zoro gives himself a stroke, gripping at the base so that he doesn’t come.

Leo’s sighs as he presses back so that the head of Zoro’s cock rubs against his hole. “Please don’t tease me,” Leo begs.

“Next time,” is all Zoro says before presses a kiss to Leo’s neck the same instant he shoves his cock in, slamming the entire length in one thorough thrust, hearing the satisfying slap of his thighs against Leo’s ass and the squelching sound of going at it bareback. Regardless of how much he stretched Leo, he still feels impossibly tight around his cock and it's too much. Leo’s his voice breaking on a ragged, muffled sob and his vision blurs.

“God, Leo,” Zoro says breathlessly as he holds Leo against him, grinding in deep and fast, forcing him to adjust to the thick cock buried in his ass. He’s digging his fingers into Leo’s hips, “Fuck, I love you.”

Leo hums in approval, rocking his hips back just as hard as Zoro fucks him, the sound of skin slapping against skin and each harsh thrust punctuated by Leo’s moans because Zoro is doing everything just right.

Zoro takes a breath, and tries not to think aloud how much he’s wanted this, how long he’s wanted Leo with him, under him like this. Leo feels amazing, better than any fantasy that he’s ever had, squeezing tight and hot and wet around Zoro’s cock. Zoro slides his hand from Leo’s hip and grazes his hand down his back to his tailbone and he pulls back, just an inch or two before filling Leo again.

Leo inhales deep when Zoro’s in all the way, making him feel even fuller each time, and he loves every second of it. This is what he had been missing, the feeling of Zoro over him, caging him while filling him. His own dick feels amazing, rutting against his bed and Leo has long stopped caring at how loud he's moaning.

Zoro loves the way he says his name, loves the way Leo’s back arches.

Zoro wants him always.

Leo feels his muscles tremble when he squeezes down hard, feeling every bit of that stretch, how far Zoro is _in him_ , how his ass is spread open and full. His hand that has been clutching at the sheets, moves behind him, searching for Zoro’s. They interlock and Leo doesn’t let go.

Zoro leans forward over Leo to press a kiss to the back of Leo's shoulder. He wraps one hand up in his thick dark hair and with the next thrust, he wrenches his head back, driving in deep when he pulls, watching his beautiful body arch.

_Mine_.

That is what does it for Leo and he barely manages to muffle his own shout as he comes hard. His thighs are burning by then and they're both panting hard but it doesn’t matter. Zoro watches Leo, memorized by how he comes, making a mess on the sheets. He thrusts in and out of him once more until he buries himself inside and suddenly, Leo feels himself being filled with thick ropes of liquid wet warmth.

And it's perfect because Leo has wanted this so much.

When Zoro pulls out, he keeps Leo’s legs spread and stares at his hole, watching with lidded eyes at his own come slip out. Leo then turns over, his face still hot, slick with sweat. He’s breathing hard as he runs his hand over his face. He reaches for Zoro with his hand and Zoro is there, always there.

"I love you," Zoro said, leaning down slowly to kiss him and rest their foreheads together.

“I know,” Leo manages, he licks his lips before continuing. “Me too.”

Leo smiles weakly when Zoro leans back up and over the bed and reaches for his discarded shirt. He uses it to clean themselves as much as possible, it’ll have to do for now.

Leo’s hands move up to Zoro’s hair, threading through his dark locks slowly as they get themselves comfortable on the bed. It's a pathetic excuse for a bed and Zoro makes a mental note that they're going to have to do better because this won't last them until the end of the week now.

Leo's gentle touches ease Zoro into sleep and for the first time in many, many days, he sleeps without nightmares of war, blood, and death.

+

The next morning, Zoro wakes up before Leo and lays in bed on his back with one of Leo’s arms slung across his waist. Leo's sleeping body is warm next to him. Zoro allows himself a moment of looking at Leo's face.

The city outside could be heard, faintly filled by the sounds of people getting ready to go about their Sunday morning. Zoro imagined that it was still fairly early. He still had to tell Leo of his ridiculous idea of getting on with the crusade.

Zoro gently lifts his arm and runs his fingers through Leo’s soft, thick hair. He repeats the motion for a few minutes before he feels Leo’s breathing increase slightly and his arm tighten across his midsection.

“I can practically hear you staring.” Leo groggily says into the pillow.

“Yeah well, it’s kind of hard not to.”

In the back of Zoro’s mind, there lingers the possibility that all of this can end at any moment. They might or might not make it to a tomorrow.

“Tell me something,” Leo then adds, seriously as he fully wakes up. “You really think we can make this work?” He gestures to the workshop but Zoro knows that he means.

“Only one way to find out. If anything goes wrong, you know I’ll be there.”

“You have got to stop saying things like that,” Leo sighs and lays back on the bed, throwing his arm over his eyes. “Romantic you is so weird.”

“This is what you signed up for, so deal with it,” Zoro says before leaning back over and kissing the smile away on Leo's face.

+

Later, when Leo shows up with Riario (unfortunately), Zoro and Nico are dressed up and ready. Leo’s face lights up when he sees Zoro and he can't help but smile back.

Nico eyes them suspiciously. Confused, Zoro looks at Nico and sees that Nico is staring at Leo’s neck and that’s when Zoro remembers that there are bite marks. Marks that he had left this morning when they had sex again. And again.

"Good night, I presume, maestro?”

Leo, runs his hands through his neck and refuses to meet Zoro’s eyes, the ass.

“Quite so, Nico.”

He walks ahead of them towards his horse and Zoro looks at Nico, who in turn, smirks at him.

“You had something to do with it, didn’t you?”

“I’m not telling.”

Nico shakes his head. “About time is all I mean.”

Zoro feels lighter and warm again and having Nico alongside them again feels like home. Just like old times. Whatever happens and awaits them, they’ll take it on together.


End file.
